Special services founder autopsy suggests suicide

PR dla Zagranicy

Nick Hodge
19.06.2012 09:38

The death of General Slawomir Petelicki, the founder of Poland's special services (GROM), did not involve “the participation of a third party,” says a Warsaw District Court spokesman following an autopsy.

Sławomir Petelickifot. PAP arch./Radek Pietruszka

Sławomir Petelicki, 1946-2012. Photo: Archive/PAP/Radek Pietruszka

Spokesman Dariusz Slepokura told the Polish Press Agency on Tuesday that “the preliminary results of the autopsy confirm those of the initial examination of the body.”

A single gun-shot wound to the head is the only injury revealed by the autopsy thus far.

Brigadier General Slawomir Petelicki, who created the elite GROM special services formation following the collapse of the Iron Curtain, was found dead by his wife on Saturday in a garage within the apartment block where they lived.

Dariusz Slepokura clarified on Tuesday that no suicide note has been discovered to date, although as was previously known, a gun was found at the scene of the general's death.

The prosecutor's office has ordered toxicological tests to be made on the general's body so as to determine whether there were any drugs present in Petelecki's system.

The results of the tests will not be known for several weeks, when full details of the autospy will be available.

Slepokura added that talks are ongoing with witnesses, including with the general's immediate family.

Speculation in the press that the 66-year-old special services veteran general was suffering from Alzheimers or was experiencing family problems has not been corroborated thus far.

Former Prime Minister Leszek Miller told Polish Radio yesterday that “it is rare that such people commit suicide,” adding that“perhaps the general had been influenced by some desperate circumstances that we do not know about.

“Everyone has limits that when crossed, can lead to such to such a dramatic decision,” Miller concluded. (nh)